Can I collect money owed to me from my ex-partner living in Texas?

Whether you can legally force your ex-husband to pay the $15,000 settlement owed from your shared family savings depends on the application of the Divorce Act. Under this Act, certain rules regarding creditors (the person owed money) and debtors (the person who owes money) can apply across borders. Specifically, the law states that "Sections 28.4 to 29.5 apply if either the creditor or the debtor, as the case may be, resides in a State Party and the other resides in a province in respect of which Canada has made a declaration extending the application of the 2007 Convention to that province" [cite:ca-divorce-act-sec28p3]. This means that for the rules to apply to your situation, Texas must be part of a 'State Party' to a specific international convention, and your province must have officially declared that it follows that convention. If these conditions are met, the legal framework used in Canada may still reach your ex-husband in Austin. However, the provided statutes do not clarify if Texas is currently recognized as a 'State Party' in this specific context, nor do they confirm if your specific province has made the necessary declaration. Because of this, it is not certain if you can use the Divorce Act to enforce your agreement. Other laws, such as the Employment Insurance Act [cite:ca-ei-act-sec150] or the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act [cite:ca-irpa-sec145], deal with debts owed to the government (the Crown) and do not apply to private financial settlements between former spouses. Similarly, the Residential Tenancies Act [cite:ca-ontario-rta-2006-sec135] only applies to landlord and tenant disputes in Ontario and is not relevant to your debt. State, provincial, or local laws in both Canada and Texas may add further rules regarding how international judgments are enforced.